An Auckland man has been found guilty of money laundering linked to a term deposit scam that saw nearly $2 million stolen from two Kiwi investors.
A jury this week found 61-year-old Carel Johannes Viljoen guilty of two counts of money laundering.
The crimes occurred in late 2022 when two unsuspecting Kiwis were approached by offshore fraudsters who advertised a fictitious investment company.
Both ultimately invested nearly $2 million into the fake company, transferring funds into a New Zealand-based account.
The account was set up by Viljoen after he was contacted separately by the offshore offenders.
“Our investigation found Viljoen opened a New Zealand-based bank account to facilitate his offending,” Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton.
“An agreement was struck that money would be transferred to specific accounts in exchange for a fee.”
In total, Viljoen pocketed a total of $61,581 from both transactions.
The money was returned following a police investigation.
Bolton said Vilijoen’s conviction should serve as a “wakeup call” for anyone approached under similar circumstances.
“You should be extremely wary if someone approaches you wanting to do a deal where you receive and move money to different bank accounts in exchange for a fee.
“Money laundering is a criminal offence which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of seven years.”
Viljoen will be sentenced in June.
